Words from the 'Funniest Justice'

By

David Shapiro

Sept. 18, 2012 10:13 p.m. ET

While waiting for the elevator in the lobby of the New York Athletic Club on Central Park South on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stood thumbing the leaves of a potted shrub, trying to judge whether it was real or plastic. "I think it's plastic, don't you?" he said idly to one of his aides, who nodded in agreement. (The New York Athletic Club confirmed that the plant was indeed made of plastic.)

Justice Scalia, who is the court's longest-serving justice, was at the Club to deliver a...